The Determinants of choice of facility based child delivery among women in rural Uganda

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to examine the determinants of choice of health facility child delivery by women in rural Uganda.There is not sufficient research surrounding the elements that influence birth place choice in rural Uganda. Examining choice of place of child delivery is a basic need in Uganda so that policy makers are able to make policies and interventions that aim at addressing the maternal and child health issues. The research is also purposeful in identifying the reasons that rural women give for the different choices of the place of child delivery and how they can be addressed. The researcher used secondary data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic Health Survey(UDHS) by UBOS.The survey collected information on women in their reproductive ages (15-49) that had had a birth in the 12 months preceding the survey and their choice of facility child delivery. A total of 12038 women was used as the sample population of which the majority(7904) were the old women(25-49) and 4134 were the young women(15-24) The findings indicate that difficulty in getting money for accessing health facilities was the most outstanding challenge women encountered. It was followed by distance to the health facility and decision making regarding maternal health care seeking was still poor accounting for less than 30% of women who made independent decisions about their health care. Most of the women in rural Uganda that have had higher levels of education and are rich choose health facilities for child delivery. Women and young girls should allowed to attain formal education so that they are able to make decisions on maternal and child health for themselves. This gives the knowledge and sense of choice. Women should be availed with income generating projects so that they are able to afford and access the health facility. Health workers should be well trained so that they handle the women in labor with kindness.